Mistaken Identities and '99's

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Finally some good weather !
Hmmm.....wasn't expecting that this weekend that's for certain, and although we were 'daytripping' in sunny Welwyn for the best part of this weekend, it was made all the nicer for the sun being out. Hell we even found an ice cream van and sat scoffing our 99's (with flake!)amongst people washing their cars and cutting hedges on the estate !
I tell you, lost dog searching has shown no boundaries of luxury lol !

For the past 6 days we have trudged around the various housing estates in Welwyn trying to catch a glimpse of a dog that could easily be mistaken for Jacob, or quite possibly IS Jacob.
what the chances are at actually seeing this person I really don't know. The odds are quite unfairly stacked against us, but hell, never ones to give up, we drive round in ever decreasing circles until we both need to get out of the car for fear of tripping on our own senses.
I am pretty sure that at one point after the '99 I started to hallucinate as I saw a dog I was sure was 'Jacobesque' in a back garden, only to see it next time we drove around as a Springer Spaniel, complete with long waggy tail. It was defintely a Homer Simpson DOH moment !
Maybe those '99's these days contain things other than ice, milk and cream, or failing that I really must get more sleep !

About 4pm yesterday found us walking the Stanborough lakes, to ease our weary minds and our legs more than anything, but hoping also that we might see some of the dog walkers we'd be-friended to find out if they had any information.
Sadly it was obviously family day yesterday, the fair was in full swing and so apart from the odd few dog walkers (who we flyered) it was a hotch potch of Mum's and Dad's running after toddlers and groups of hormonal teenagers snogging the faces off of each other. Euwwweee !

We made some enquiries about CCTV at the local store where the Jacob clone was seen, but they are not sure there is any form of 'Big Brother' equipment around there.
I am not convinced either but then there is a bank cashpoint nearby the actual store, so I emailed the bank and am waiting on their email back. If there's valid CCTV it might be that they caught this dog/man on their recording.
The search would be easy as we have definitive times he's been seen there, so it wouldn't be hard for them to look. Might be that the CCTV only points at the cashpoint though, so we'd just get a glimpse of many people's backsides, not the backside we need, that one of gingery proportion's, carried by 4 white speckledy legs.

The next step for us is to go the whole hog and posterise that whole area with gusto.
We have some posters up and around, but we perhaps need to go at it like Lemmings and poster each and every street, alongside all focal points. I think that's the way forward there.
Not everyone would know about the sightings there, no all would read local papers, so many might be unknowingly walking past him raising a smile at his gorgeousness.

The thing that bothers us both (all) is the sheer fact that the description of the man, the circumstances how he gained the dog, alongside Jacob's photo, all went into the local Welwyn (and surrounding areas) paper, and yet you would assume if he was of any normal standing, he would come forward voluntarily, even it it were to rule out any similarities of mistaken identities to the dog he owns. What does he need to hide ?
Noone is bothered about the circumstances he got that dog, where he got it, or who he got it from, we just don't care.
We purley just want to eliminate him from our enquiries, that's it.
If it's not Jacob, what's he evading us for ? All he needs to do is call and we can talk it over like civil human beings.
I've said it before and i'll say it again, we are not baying for blood.
We're just frustrated as hell that 3 people have now seen this 'Jacobesque' dog and we want to know why.
Is that too much to ask for ?
Seems so.

One thing to consider here is that we have many people on board now around that whole area.
The Ginger Army has expanded somewhat largely these last few days !
Some people have kindly offered to help and that is purely though reading Doglost or this blog. They don't know of us from Adam, but feel the urgency in bringing this nightmare to an end for us, and so have taken time and effort to drive/walk around the area, and look round the particular areas we've told them he could possibly be.
To offer their free time as they have done has been fantastic, and we really appreciate extra eyes on the ground when we can't be there.

Quite frankly now, we will just carry on searching that area, until something else comes to light, or another phone call add's to the collection of maybes, and adds a few more peices to the jigsaw.
I have to say this past week has seen us go from elation in thinking we might finally be over the dark side and close to bringing Jacob home, to being back at the lowest ebb of unknowing (and everything in between).

My 40th Birthday looms this weekend (I was sure someone doctored my birth certificate, as I could swear I was born in '89 not '69!)
Hmmmm - Still until such a time that I can find that person (!) I will go on this week hoping that the present I want more than any other, will appear, suitably wrapped with a big red ribbon around his neck, and a huge Bracco "Happy Birthday" 'yodell' going on to boot.

Meanwhile I will enjoy my last few days of being (apparently) 'thirty-something' by severely mocking the afflicted (that's anyone already 'over 40' !!) and hoping that much wished for present can be mine for the keeping come Saturday.